The Sleeve-Clothed God, also known as Sode-no-Kami, was a well-known yokai in Shikoku. By nature, however, he was destined to be weak—his body was small, his stature unimpressive, and his demonic power painfully low.
Yet despite this, Sode-no-Kami enjoyed a remarkable reputation throughout Shikoku. He was even counted among the infamous Seven Travelers.
Naturally, there was a reason for that.
In terms of raw combat ability, Sode-no-Kami was utterly average. But he possessed an extraordinarily terrifying special ability.
That ability came with strict limitations—but once those conditions were met, it became almost impossibly lethal.
Sode-no-Kami wielded a curse-killing technique.
If someone was grabbed from behind by his sleeve, and that person turned around to look at him, they would be cursed to death on the spot.
This curse ignored defenses entirely. Barriers, armor, resistance—it made no difference.
It was a truly terrifying power.
Even certain land gods—beings sustained by offerings and nearly impossible to kill—were often doomed once caught by Sode-no-Kami's curse.
There were generally only two ways to survive it.
The first was simple:If someone grabbed your sleeve from behind, never turn around—no matter what.
The second was far more extreme:Before the curse could fully activate, you had to cut off your own sleeve. Once Sode-no-Kami consumed the severed sleeve, the curse would be neutralized.
Just moments ago, when Sode-no-Kami tugged on Ren Kuroda's sleeve, Ren had turned around naturally—without hesitation.
That meant Ren was now under the so-called "inevitable death" curse.
Once the curse was triggered, the only way to dispel it was for Sode-no-Kami himself to eat Ren's sleeve.
But now that they were enemies—would Sode-no-Kami ever do something so foolish?
Of course not.
If anything, he was praying for Ren's immediate death. Killing an opponent that even Inugami and the others couldn't handle would catapult his status straight to the top of the Seven Travelers and earn him immense favor in front of Lord Yuzhang.
All this time, Sode-no-Kami had been looked down upon within the Seven Travelers because of his weakness.
But now?
Wasn't it him who had dealt the final blow?
Time passed.
One second.
Two seconds.
Ten seconds…
At first, Sode-no-Kami waited eagerly for Ren to collapse, his face filled with anticipation.
But after half a minute, that expression slowly twisted into confusion.
Then shock.
A full minute passed.
Ren Kuroda still stood there calmly, his aura steady and unmoving. There was no sign—none at all—of being cursed to death.
"Why… why is this happening?!"Sode-no-Kami shrieked."You clearly turned around! You should have been killed by my curse! Why are you completely unharmed?!"
The curse-killing technique was the only thing Sode-no-Kami truly had. It was his pride, his lifeline, the foundation of his reputation.
And now—
It had utterly failed.
Against this man, it was meaningless.
Wasn't that the same as denying Sode-no-Kami's entire existence?
Ren looked at him calmly.
"A sure-kill curse?" he said flatly."Since when has anything in this world ever been truly 'sure-kill'?"
His gaze sharpened slightly.
"You must be Sode-no-Kami. I'll admit—your ability is powerful. Against opponents close to your level, it might as well be fatal."
Ren's lips curled faintly.
"But just like that slippery spirit I ran into before, you all put far too much faith in your own tricks."
"No matter how strong an ability is," he continued,"it still needs enough demonic power to support it.Battles between yokai are decided by demonic power alone."
"The reason your curse failed is simple."
Ren's eyes locked onto Sode-no-Kami.
"My demonic power is far stronger than yours."
Before Sode-no-Kami could react, Ren reached out and seized him by the head with one hand, lifting him effortlessly off the ground.
"My demonic power is already at C-rank," Sode-no-Kami sputtered, his legs kicking uselessly in the air."That's considered extremely high for someone of my kind! Even if you were B+ rank, my curse should've worked!"
Ren chuckled softly.
"And when did I ever give you the illusion that I was fighting at full strength?"
Seeing that Sode-no-Kami—who was already doomed—was still obsessing over why his curse had failed, Ren felt an unexpected flicker of mercy.
He decided to let the yokai understand the truth before he died.
Sharp claws extended from Ren's hand as his grip tightened.
His chestnut-brown hair surged wildly, growing as if fueled by a violent surge of power. When it reached his waist, its color shifted—turning crimson from the roots outward.
A pair of red horns erupted from his forehead.
Ren Kuroda entered his Half-Demon Transformation.
His clothing changed as well.
Much like how Rikuo Nura's school uniform transformed into a commanding haori upon awakening his Nurarihyon blood, Ren's attire reshaped itself to reflect his true nature.
As Ren became more proficient with his Half-Demon Transformation, he was no longer the berserk, barely conscious monster he once was.
Now, he retained full clarity.
And after receiving the "Demon Power Awakening" reward from his previous mission—along with the skills "Strange Strength" and "Chaotic Spirit"—his transformed appearance had evolved even further.
Ancient general's armor materialized around his body.
A purple demonic crest bloomed across his strikingly handsome face.
But appearance wasn't the most terrifying change.
The moment Ren completed his transformation, his demonic power exploded.
The surge was instantaneous.
The oppressive aura crushed the surrounding space, making even seasoned yokai struggle to breathe.
Thanks to his growing mastery of Half-Demon Transformation and the amplification from Demon Power Awakening, Ren's demonic power didn't just rise—
It shattered the B-rank threshold.
Straight into A-rank.
Not borderline.
Not unstable.
A genuine, solid A-rank great demon.
The air trembled.
Under the combined pressure of Ren's demonic aura and his Intimidation skill, the fodder yokai brought along by the Seven Travelers lost all will to fight. One after another, they collapsed to their knees, trembling uncontrollably.
Staring at Ren—red hair, twin horns blazing with power—Sode-no-Kami finally understood everything.
With C-rank demonic power, even his strongest curse could at best kill someone a single major rank above him.
B+ rank was the absolute limit.
But the being standing before him…
Was A-rank.
No matter how broken Sode-no-Kami's ability was, it could never bridge a gap of two full ranks.
What kind of monster had they provoked?
A group of peak B-rank yokai challenging an A-rank great demon—
Wasn't that just suicide?
No wonder Ren had been so calm from the very beginning.
To him, they were nothing more than children throwing tantrums.
Bang—!
Sode-no-Kami's head burst like a watermelon in Ren's grasp.
Against an A-rank Oni-blooded demon specializing in raw strength, a C-rank yokai was pitifully fragile.
Crushing his head required no more effort than squeezing fruit.
"Inugami—this is bad!"Crochet-onna screamed in panic as Ren advanced, tearing through the binding demon hair as if it were nothing."This is nothing like the information we got! He's not some small fry—we're facing an A-rank great demon!"
She was completely terrified.
They had believed that the Seven Travelers acting together would be more than enough.
But who could've imagined that this so-called Demon Fighting Academy was a wolf in sheep's clothing?
Tessai-ki had been crippled with a single punch.Sode-no-Kami had his head crushed outright.
Among the Seven Travelers, aside from Inugami, the rest were barely C+ rank.
Kishigaya Kōzō and Inuhōhō were already injured from earlier clashes.
Inugami himself wasn't critically wounded—but he was far from peak condition.
And as for Yasuzaku—the traitor among the Seven Travelers—he had proven himself the sharpest of them all.
His decisive self-mutilation earlier had shown that he wasn't a fool.
The moment Ren revealed his true demonic power, Yasuzaku seized the opportunity and vanished into the darkness.
By then, it was already over.
One was dead.One had escaped.One was crippled.
Only four remained.
And they now stood before an A-rank great demon.
How were they supposed to fight?
Head-on?
For an A-rank demon, killing a C-rank yokai was a matter of a single blow.
The will to fight collapsed instantly.
Once Ren used Half-Demon Transformation, the outcome was inevitable.
The Seven Travelers had stormed the Demon Fighting Academy—
But only Night Sparrow escaped alive.
The rest were either slain or captured by Ren Kuroda.
As for Inugami, born from resentment and obsession, his power increased the deeper his hatred ran.
He had unleashed everything he had against Ren.
But even that was meaningless before overwhelming strength.
Though his body was special, demonic power was finite.
And in the end, Inugami—who had once been fiercely loyal—was crushed again and again until he could no longer rise.
For him, at least, the ending wasn't the worst possible.
He did not die by the hand of the one he trusted most—
Tamaki.